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In most academic title ranks, “professor” as an unqualified title refers only to the most senior academic position, sometimes informally known as “full professor”. In some countries and institutions, the word “professor” is also used in titles of lower ranks such as assistant professor and associate professor; this is especially true in the United States, where the term professor is sometimes colloquially used to refer to both assistant professors and associate professors.This colloquial use would be considered incorrect among other academic communities. However, the unqualified title “professor”designated with a capital letter, almost always refers to a full professor.

Professors often conduct original research and usually teach undergraduate, professional, or postgraduate courses in their respective fields of study. In universities with higher education, professors can mentor and guide students researching for a dissertation. In many universities, professors hold senior management positions such as senior departments, research groups and institutes, and serve in executive roles as president, director, or vice-chancellor. The role of a professor may be more public than that of junior staff, and professors are expected to be national or international leaders in their field of expertise.

The professor is an accomplished and recognized academician. In most countries of the Community and Northern Europe, the professor holds the highest academic title at a university. In the USA and Canada, the title of professor is applied to the majority of doctoral students. Therefore a higher percentage is determined. In these fields, professors are academics with a doctorate degree (usually PhD degrees) or an equivalent qualification who teach at four-year colleges and universities. An emeritus professor is a title given to selected retired professors with whom the university wishes to continue to collaborate in connection with their growth and ongoing research. Emeritus professors do not receive a salary but often get a place in an office or laboratory and use libraries, labs, etc.

The term professor is also used in associate professor and assistant professor ranks, which are not considered professor-level positions in all European countries. In Australia, the title of assistant professor is used instead of the term “reader”, as in the United Kingdom and other countries of the community, above senior lecturer and professor.

In addition to conferring an appropriate academic title, universities in many countries also award distinguished artists, athletes and foreign dignitaries with the title of honorary professor, even if these individuals do not have the academic qualifications required for a professor and do not hold professorial duties.